Review ordered into hospital car parks as revenue doubles

The Health Service Executive has ordered a review of hospital car parking charges after the revenue generated by public hospitals from parking fees more than doubled over a four-year period.

A recent breakdown provided by the HSE shows that Irish people spent a record €17.76m on car park charges at public and voluntary hospitals in 2025, compared to €7.39m in 2021, representing a 140% increase in that period.

Since the beginning of 2020, €73.5m has been collected by public hospitals from parking charges.

The HSE's acting Chief Executive Officer Damian McCallion says the review will examine why revenue from car parking charges has increased since 2020.

He said it will also come up with "a nationally co-ordinated approach" for the fees.

At present, there is no single national contract for the provision of car-parking services across all publicly funded hospitals with individual hospitals operating their own local arrangements.

Mr McCallion confirmed the move in correspondence to the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee, but the committee's chair John Brady claimed there was not a need for a further review.

He noted how the endeavour was a "damning indictment of the Government's failure to tackle this issue".

The Programme for Government last year made a commitment to "explore further ways to reduce hospital car parking charges".

The review will be led by Brian O’Connell, who is the HSE's National Director and Head of Strategic Health Infrastructure and Capital Delivery.

It follows a similar exercise in 2018 and guidance issued to hospitals thereafter in 2019.

"It is recognised that further progress would best be advanced through a nationally coordinated, but locally delivered, approach," Mr McCallion wrote.

He said the review would focus on four key areas including "clarifying the desired national policy approach, including whether the emphasis should be on affordability measures, such as capped rates and concession schemes, or on broader reductions in charges".

It will also assess "the financial implications of any proposed changes and identifying sustainable funding options where required" and engage "with Regional Executive Offices and hospitals to understand site-specific circumstances".

It may also develop how a new regime for the charges might be implemented.

The review team has also been tasked to explore "the potential unintended consequences of changes to parking charges" including how any new system could "inadvertently make hospital car parks financially attractive to nonhospital users, thereby increasing demand and reducing availability for those attending hospital".

Mr O'Connell's review team will compromise "representatives from relevant national functions, finance colleagues, Regional Executive Offices and local operational representatives," said Mr McCallion.

There is no deadline set out for the completion of the review.

'Damning indictment' of Govt's failure to tackle issue - PAC Chair

PAC Chair Deputy Brady urged the Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to act with more urgency on the issue, saying patients did not need another review.

"The fact that the HSE has now ordered a new review of hospital parking charges, eight years after the last review was ordered by Simon Harris, is a damning indictment of the Government’s failure to tackle this issue.

"Patients and their families should not have had to wait eight years for action while more than €73 million has been taken through hospital parking charges between 2020 and 2025," he said.

"This is money being taken directly out of the pockets of people who are often already under enormous financial and emotional pressure.

"For those attending hospital regularly for cancer treatment, chronic illnesses or other serious conditions, these charges quickly add up and place a very real strain on families," he added.

He also said "this amounts to a stealth tax on people who have no choice but to attend hospital to access the care they need".

Nationwide, 36 hospitals charge for parking with the maximum daily rate capped at €10 or less in all but four of these hospitals.

The parking cap at Dublin's St Vincent's University Hospital is the highest at €17.

Parking is free at nine further hospitals.

The HSE has pointed to the return to normal activity since the Covid-19 pandemic for the increased revenue since 2021, but Opposition politicians and patient advocate groups believe reform of the system is long overdue.

The Department of Health insisted that work is ongoing to reduce the charges as per the commitment in the Programme for Government when the coalition came to office.

"In line with the Programme for Government commitment, the Secretary General of the Department of Health and the HSE CEO are currently engaging directly on the issue, in order to progress any further opportunities that will ease the burden for those most affected," a spokesperson said.

"The majority of hospitals also have some form of exemptions or concessions in place such as the option of flexible day pass/multi-trip entry, or various concessions based on the type of patient."